Vipe Desai’s Army of Gamechangers Featuring Erik Logan of the Oprah Winfrey Network

Vipe Desai’sArmy of Gamechangers show is a weekly conversation with a guest who’s professional and personal life offers something special to share with our Malakye.com community. Subscribe to the podcast here.

The first episode is with Erik Logan from Oprah Winfrey Network. Erik has some very impactful, short & sweet words to fill your tank with inspiration and motivation. Enjoy this and keep your eye out for more.

Army of Gamechangers is a weekly podcast hosted by Vipe Desai, Founder and CEO of HDX Hydration Mix. “Over the past few years the number of people reaching out to me seeking career, leadership and startup advice has been steadily growing,” said Vipe Desai, Host of the AoG podcast and CEO of HDX Hydration Mix. “The Army of Gamechangers podcast is a natural extension to bring insights and advice to more people so they can go farther, move faster and be presented with many more opportunities. I’m going to reach deep into my network and interview leaders from across a variety of industries to share their best career and leadership advice.”

True Leadership = Empower & Defer, with Erik Logan of The Oprah Winfrey NetworkIt seems that everyone wants to know the nature of true leadership. There are over 80,000 titles on the subject in the Amazon catalog alone. Vipe’s guest on this episode of the podcast, Erik Logan, says that true leadership consists of surrounding yourself with people who are smarter than you, empowering them to do their job with excellence, then deferring to them whenever possible. The way he says it is this: Empower and defer. Empower and defer. This is a short but powerful conversation with a guy who is disarming in the way he transparently shares his personal journey, but powerful in the practical lessons and insights he shares. You won’t want to miss this great conversation.

The power of simplification: choosing a few things and making them “A” qualityErik Logan realizes that like a lot of us, he tends to spread his focus on many projects that he's interested in - too many, in fact. But heading into 2018 he is committed to simplifying his life and his leadership. He came to that decision through advice he received from the CEO of the largest corporation in the world, who told him that his company only did 5 things - but they did them very, very well. That got Erik thinking about his own approach to life and he's decided he's going to follow suit. For him, it's time to choose a few things and make every one of them “A” quality. What would happen in the world if we all took that same approach? Listen to this entire conversation to receive more practical help from this world-class leader.

You’re only as good as your fastball. In your career, you need to know what your fastball isCareer advice is a dime a dozen but when it comes from an ultra-successful person like Erik Logan, it's smart to pay attention. When Vipe asked Erik to share his best career advice, he turned to a baseball analogy. Erik used to be a pitcher back in his baseball playing days and recalls a phrase he and his fellow pitchers said back then. “You are only as good as your fastball.” How does that apply to careers? He says everybody needs to find out what their version of the fastball is. In other words, what is it that you do better than anyone else? Is it your creativity? Your work ethic? Your attention to detail? Your specialized skills? When you know the primary things you are able to powerfully bring to the equation, you will be better able to maximize those things, minimize everything else, and excel in ways only you can.

True leaders should be the dumbest people in the roomTrue leadership is not about being the smartest, hardest driving, or most experienced person in the room. In fact, even though Erik Logan leads the Oprah Winfrey Network, he says his goal is to always be the dumbest person in the room. If he happens to look around and finds that he knows more about marketing than his CMO, or more about web design than his lead developer, he knows he's not doing his job and playing small. True leadership is about bringing together a skilled group of amazing people with a variety of views, galvanizing them in a singular direction, and empowering them to do that work with excellence. If you want to be a true leader, take your eyes off yourself and learn how to help others succeed. This episode can help you get started in the direction of true leadership.

Outline of This Episode• [0:06] Vipe’s introduction of Erik Logan - President of Oprah Winfrey Network• [1:23] Narrowing the focus: Choose a few things and make them “A” quality• [3:40] The one thing you can do to get a leg up on your career path• [6:12] Learn how to be the un-leader: empower and defer, empower and defer